Marin homeowners compelled to combine water conservation with renovation

If you're about to do a renovation on your home, there's something you should know: If the house is more than 20 years old and has water-wasting fixtures, you must replace them thanks to a new state law being phased in this year.

SB 470 requires that low-flow toilets, shower heads and interior faucets replace non-conserving fixtures in single-family homes more than 20 years old undergoing remodels or additions. This part of the law became effective Jan. 1, and other elements will kick in over the next five years.

As far as the age requirement, "It's going to affect most of the homes in Marin County," said Bob Ravasio, an agent with Coldwell Banker. "Most of them were built before 1994. For example, last year alone, of the 3,452 homes that sold, about two-thirds were built before 1994."

Ravasio emphasized that many aspects of the law's enforcement haven't yet been finalized.

"This thing is still in the stages where we are trying to figure out what the consequences are," the agent said.

"The law provides an enormous amount of gray area and we're trying to get to the bottom of how it's going to be implemented," said Blaine Morris, president of the Marin Association of Realtors.

The law affects remodels, not resales.

"There is nothing in the law that requires the installation of water-conserving fixtures as a condition of sale," said Lotus Lou of the California Association of Realtors.

"This is a way of trying to increase the awareness of people who have plumbing fixtures that use too much water," said Ron Averiette, Novato's chief building official. "If you are doing additions or improvements to a property built before Jan. 1, 1994, you have to make sure your fixtures inside the house meet all the requirements of fixtures installed after 1994."

After 1994, Averiette said, fixtures sold in California were water-conserving. So those who have replaced all their toilets, showers and faucets since then are probably good to go.

Also, "North Marin Water District has been requiring retrofit on resale since the year 2000, for all homes built prior to 1992," said Ryan Grisso, the district's water conservation coordinator. The district's standards are even more stringent than those of the new law, increasing the chance that homeowners in Novato and several small improvement districts in West Marin are already in compliance.

Homeowners whose fixtures aren't compliant will be denied final approval on their remodel or addition, even if it's a remodel that doesn't involve the bathroom or kitchen. The law is said to be the first of its kind in the nation, and affects apartment houses and businesses as well.

With faucets running around $150 apiece for no-frills offerings, the consequences could be costly for those who have not replaced outmoded fixtures. However, considering the drought still ravaging California, the law could also be a boon, saving homeowners money on water bills.

Water rationing requiring a 25 percent cut could be imposed on most Marin residents April 1, Krishna Kumar, head of the Marin Municipal Water District, said in January. Rationing could happen for the 185,000 people served by the agency because reservoirs are low.

Novato and San Rafael, Marin's two largest municipalities, are trying to make it as easy as possible to comply with the law.

"At the permit issuing stage, we give a form either to the contractor or the homeowner, whoever gets the permit," Averiette said. The form is available along with the permit on the city website, cityofnovato.org.

Novato homeowners should fill out the form, sign it and submit it when the work is done, Averiette said.

No inspections will be performed in those two cities with regard to compliance with SB 470, according to the officials. While the cities must implement the law's requirements, they have not received funding for enforcement or direction on how to do it.

"There have been a lot of programs over the last 10 years to get low-flow toilets in place," said Thomas Ahrens, San Rafael's chief building official. Water districts and other agencies "were doing rebate programs to encourage people to swap out their high-flow toilets for low-flow toilets, but there has been no such program for faucets and shower heads. There is a lot of latent potential there," Ahrens said.

"There's no way for us to determine whether a faucet or shower is compliant other than carrying a one-gallon bucket and a stopwatch," said Ahrens. "We have no way of determining it, so we're going to have to put it on the property owner to verify the flow rates and/or change the fixture out and certify to us that they did it."

As with Novato, San Rafael's paperwork is self-certifying.

"Just fill out the form and sign it to attest that you have replaced any noncompliant fixtures," Ahrens said. The form is at the city's website cityofsanrafael.org.

While upgrading may be expensive, there are ways to offset the expense. The Marin Municipal Water District has a rebate program for high-efficiency toilets, high-efficiency clothes washers and smart irrigation controllers. North Marin Water District also has such a program.

"This is timely because we have a drought this year," Ahrens said. "It makes it easier to swallow this bitter pill because everyone's consciousness has been raised as to the importance of saving water."

A representative of the county's builders' association shared some concerns.

"It has been our experience with laws like SB 407 that the governing body must encourage the community to comply not because they have to, but because it is the right thing to do. Educating the community about the importance of green building should be a priority and will result in greater compliance rather than a heavy-handed approach," said Casey Mazzoni, the legislative analyst for the Marin Builders Association.

"We are concerned that when a simple project becomes onerous and cost-prohibitive to homeowners they will simply hire an unlicensed contractor and not get the permits required. Unlicensed contractors and non-permitted structures pose a public safety risk to the community and have a negative impact on our environment and a negative economic impact on the licensed contractor," Mazzoni said.

A longtime activist saw it differently.

"I think this law is important. It's a great idea," said Michael Di Giorgio, a Realtor and president of the Novato Sanitary District who formerly served on the Novato City Council. "Water is the most important thing we have and it's time we thought seriously about how we use it and how we shouldn't be using it. We're going to have to use it a lot more sparingly and a lot more wisely."

Along those lines, "SB 470 would add a critical step to the enforcement process by mandating that indoor water-conserving plumbing fixtures be added to building permit requirements," said Marin Municipal Water District Conservation Manager Dan Carney in an email.

"Currently (the district) approves water-conserving landscape plans on behalf of local jurisdictions, but relies on building inspectors to enforce the district's existing conservation ordinances for indoor fixtures," Carney said. "So SB 407 is a great step in the right direction."